Utility storage facility



June 10, 1941. F. w. JONES 2,244,950

UTILITY STORAGE FACIL ITY Filed Sept. 11, 1959 ATTORNEY.

Patented June 10, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFKZE UTILITY STORAGE FACIIJTY Fred W. Jones, Valparaiso, Ind. Application September 11, 1939, Serial No. 294,223

2 Claims. (01. 312-183) My invention relates to improvements in utility storage facilities, and it more especially includes the features pointed out in the accompanying claims.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a rotatable storage facility adaptable to existing clothes closets or adaptable to special kitchen cabinets which may be enclosed in metal casings; that in the case of clothes closets provision is made for the user's convenience in storing hats, garments, shoes, etc.; that in either case my invention provides simplicity of construction throughout; that also provides means for individually adjusting the shelves to different distances apart as may be desired; and that in addition also provides stamped-up metal shelves for the kitchen utility or wherever else they may be used.

With these and other ends in view I illustrate in the accompanying drawing such instances of adaptation as will disclose the broad features of my invention without limiting myself to the specific details shown thereon and described herein.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a kitchen utility.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view in section of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detached elevation in section of means for adjusting the shelves.

Fig. 4 is a detached elevation of the upper and lower supports for the rotating shelf unit of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of a storage utility adapted to clothes closet use.

Fig. 6 is a sectional detached elevation of one of the shelves of Fig. 5, showing the hat supports and the circular support for garment hangers.

Fig. 7 is a detached elevation of another shelf having a circular shoe support thereon.

Fig. 8 is a detached plan of the two bottom shelves of Fig. 5-.

In marketing my utility I may use whatever modification or changes of structure that the exigencies of varying conditions may demand without departing from the broad spirit of my invention.

I have shown the outer walls of the cabinet that encloses a kitchen utility as being formed of sheet metal. This lends itself to any style of baked-on enamel or other style of coating. If desired it may also be made of wood.

The simplified features of both my utility adaptations meet a real demand in that the entire revolving unit may be enclosed in a cabinet when used for kitchen purposes or in a conventional clothes closet when used for other storage facilities.

There is a central shaft on which the circular shelves are secured. This makes available every portion of each shelf because by turning the portion will be brought to pipe I, or 28, which in the case of a clothes storage utility, is rotatable in a bottom plate 2 and a top upper plate 3. The bottom plate is secured to the floor 26, and the top plate is secured to the ceiling 21. These plates may be of any desired cooperating form so as to hold the shaft l in position. The bottom plate 2 may be provided with any form of roller bearing.

I employ the utmost simplicity in the construction of different adaptations of my invention. The kitchen utility may have a metal casing 4 provided with any kind of door. A top 5 of the cabinet is provided with a removable pin 6. This enters the upper end of the pipe 28 through a flange 1 formed on the underside of the top. At the bottom a metal floor may have an upstanding flange 8. The upper end of the special tube 28 used in the kitchen cabinet may have a screw plug 29 at its upper end into which the retaining pin 6 projects. The bottom end 9 of the tube 28 and the upperend ll of the flange 8 may be coned internally to receive the ball II. This, produces an almost frictionless arrangement oi parts without any conventional complexities in construction.

The shelves I 2 may be used in both utilities. These have discontinuous slightly upward .pro-

Jecting flanges l8 which serve to prevent articles stored on the shelves from accidentally sliding oif. Fig. 2 shows the flanges l3 omitted at several places l8 so as to make it easy to wipe oil any accumulations through such openings. These shelves have a stamped-up central pro- Jec'tion or hub 14 which has an opening for the tube 28 to pass through. These projections hold the shelves from wobbling as they rest on the shiftable collars is. They are made to fit the 'tube 28 rather closely so as to secure to the user a feeling that the shelves arereally firm. The collars are provided with screws l6 shown in Fig. 3' that pass through holes ll formed, a desired distance apart, so as to make it easy to shift the shelves to different elevations.

' By simply removing the top pin 8 the entire rotatable central portion of the cabinet is removable at once forcleaning or any other purpose, however, as stated above if individual shelves are only to be cleaned the tube 28 need not be removed from the cabinet because any accumulations on the shelves l2 can be brushed off through the gaps I8 of the flanges l3.

It is apparent that my form of cabinet for kitchen use is thoroughly sanitary and hygienic. It will save many steps of a housewife and it instantly makes any portion of the contents available for inspection or removal. The capacity of the cabinet is large. comparatively speaking, it of course depends on the diameter of the shelves. It occupies small wall space and four twelve inchdiameter shelves have approximately the same area as a linear shelf eight inches wide I by five feet long.

The shelf may be supported on the wall by means of round headed screws which freely pass through holes I! formed in the back of the cabinet. As the cabinet is dropped by its own weight, the body of the screws will pass into slots 20 which prevents any accidental removal of it, yet

by simply lifting it the length of the slots it will be instantly free to be taken away from the wall.

The clothes closet adaptation includes a top shelf l2 similar to the shelves in the kitchen cabinet, which are also provided for adjustment in the same way. Next below the top shelf, there is a special shelf 24 which on its top surface is provided with hat supports 2!. On the underside of the shelf, there.is a circular rod 22 from which conventional garment hangers may be suspended.

On the bottom shelf 25 a circular rod 23, onl

of smaller diameter than the circular rod 2's on hat supports 2| may be numerous enough to support a desired number of hats for ordinary use, likewise the circular rod 22 also provides room to receive a large number of garments. One

' advantage of having garments supported in this way is that the conventional hangers will be positioned in radial relation to the shaft or tube I, thus bringing the garments close together or in contact with each other at a point nearest the center and farther apart at the outer end of a garment hanger, thus making it possible for the user to have a partial'inspection of each garment without taking its hanger off from the rod 22.

In a similar way the circular shoe rod 23 affords ample space for a large number of shoes. By raising the rod 23 above the shelf 25 the main weight of the shoe is directly above the rod, thus assisting in'keeping the foot portion of the shoe in shape.

What I claim is:

1. In a utility cabinet, a rotatable storage member, comprising separate circular shelves supported in spaced apart relation on a tubular shaft at the centers of the shelves, a removable pin support for the shaft at the top, a conical inwardly facing ending ofthe lower end of the shaft, an upwardly extending projection external of and below the shaft having a similar inwardly facing conical ending, and a single ball placed between the two conical endings.

2. In a utility cabinet a casing having a door for closing an opening thereof, a downwardly extending perforated projection formed on the under side-0f the top of the cabinet, an extension from the projection to form a bearing, a central upwardly extending hollow projection on the bottom of the cabinet, a single ball positioned on the upwardly extending projection, a tubular shaft positioned between the projection on the under side of the top of the cabinet and the ball positioned on the lower projection, said tube simultaneously engaging the ball andthe extension at the top to provide an inexpensive anti-friction bearing for the shaft, a plurality of sheet metal shelves each having a central stamped-up hub and a discontinuous up-standing flange around the periphery, a collar on the shaft beneath each shelf said collar -being provided with means whereby separate collars are adapted to position the shelves loosely resting thereon at desired distances apart.

FRED W. JONES.. 

